AUSTIN — Linebacker Ty’Anthony Smith has been dismissed from the Texas Longhorns football team, the school confirmed.
The departure of the junior from Jasper greatly diminishes the depth at one of the Longhorns’ most shallow positions. All-American linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and Trey Moore left for the NFL after last season, and starters Liona Lefau transferred to Colorado after making 21 starts.
Texas brought in a pair of highly touted linebackers in preseason All-American Rasheem Biles from Pittsburgh and Justin Cryer from Florida State.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian said Smith had missed last Saturday’s scrimmage because of the flu but had bragged on him and said he had some strong practices. He started only one game in his career but played in 28 games and had 75 tackles, 2½ sacks and three interceptions.
He played 450 snaps for Texas and was positioned to start or compete for a starting positions this fall. His exit will provide a lot of opportunity for others like senior Brad Spence and true freshmen Tyler Atkinson and Rocky Cummings to grab playing time.